The Murdress! or Murderer? wait what was it now?
by O'MalleytheAlleyCat
Summary: The ongoing story including all your favorite (or not so favorite) castle characters. When a woman's dead body is found in an apartment and Ryan is shot by who they think is the murderer everyone down at the precinct is lead on a goose chase while Castle decides to win back Kate's lost love for him. Will the broken couple re-unite? Will Ryan live?
1. Chapter 1

Hey this is my first story and I am sooo looking forward to it! Just wait, first it will be one castle story next a hundred! (Just kidding) Though I am pretty psyched. oh and by the way if anyone who actually reads this stuff that wants to sue because of rights or stuff I don't own Castle (but 'ooh hoo hoo ' if I did!)

"NYPD Open Up!"

Becketts voice rang out. She had both boys on each side, each with their guns loaded and pulled up to defend themselves and their partners. Beckett nodded at Javier giving him the pleasure of kicking the door down. Kevin entered first into the old motel room. He shouted the all clear and the two others came in hot on his heels. The dim lights cast and eerie mood as all three of them saw at the same time the gruesome shape of a distorted human body laying on the ground in a pool of blood.

"Sweep the rest of the place!"

Beckett's order was clear and the other detectives were only too glad to adhere to it just to get out of the sight of the luminous black eyes of the victim. Javier entered the bathroom and found it in perfect order Kevin however was met by a very different sight. Two guns shots rang out and a cry of pain and a thud as a body hit the floor was heard from the bedroom Kevin had just entered.

Castle awoke to a pounding headache and after a few moments reflection a giddy sense of his nights adventures. Who knew librarians could be so spicy? With sudden realization Rick Castle noticed the pristine hotel room he was currently in and with even more apprehension a beautiful red head laying by his side in very becoming pink panties. Again ,a librarian, who knew? Castle had been trying to get his mind off of the charming Kate Beckett by sleeping with and partying with some of the most crazy people he had ever met, not that they were anymore crazy than him. Thinking about her gave him the regular dose of pain he felt every morning when he thought back to her sweet laugh that made you want to join in. He thought about he brown hair and the way she pushed it behind her ear when lost for words. He thought about her-. No he told himself. He wasn't going to waste his life thinking about the love he'd lost. He couldn't think about that moment the epitome of his life at the precinct. He couldn't think about how he had messed up everything between some of his best friends. With no great reluctance he sat up and began to dress. The lovely librarian woke and looked at him with a smile.

" So when will the free orders of your books come into the library?" her voice was sweet but obviously the night had in no way been about the two of them.

"Tomorrow, and may I say you are quite the librarian"

she gave a knowing smile" Oh I know" he smiled at her but the only thing he could think about was Kate.

Lanie was much like Castle waking up in a melancholy mood but unlike him her partner had not returned from his late night call to work.

" Damn Ryan's caller I.D"

Immediately Lanie took it back as she remembered that Ryan had Jenny and little four month Tommy to go home to. Jenny was probably missing Kevin more than she was missing Javi. Probably. With a sigh she turned over and grabbed her phone. It was 7:34am. She saw a text from Javi. Her mouth gave an unpleasant turn. The job may not be Javi's fault but she would sure let him know that she wasn't too happy about being left at home when they had planned an exciting night. Lanie got up and took a nice long shower. After her luxurious shower she sat down to breakfast. In almost slow motion she pulled out her phone to read Javi's text. It was simple and straight to the point.

" Lanie meet me at the hospital Ryan got shot"

Lanie almost felt her heart fall out of her. She was miserable now as she checked the time. 8:41am. Javi was in the hospital facing this by himself and she for the simple fact of being a little mad about being left alone had failed as his girlfriend. She knew how Javi felt about the younger partner. Ryan had been a small ray of sunshine with his ever present optimism and wit that had been exactly what the worn cop had needed. They watched each others backs like brothers and were always willing to sacrifice for the well being of the other. With an almost desperate speed Lanie texted Javi back.

"I luv u be rht thr"

As soon as Beckett heard the shots she rushed to where Ryan was. What she saw would give her nightmares equal to the ones caused by her near death and the event that lead up to her painful break-up with Castle. Ryan and another man were lying on the floor. The one had been shot in the shoulder and was struggling to get up. With a fire burning in her eyes she flipped him over and slammed him into the floor cuffing him while saying his rights. Esposito ran in seconds after and immediately dropped to the floor talking to Ryan. Beckett felt pain well up in her chest as she heard Esposito whispering comfort to his partner.

"I'm right here bro, your gonna be just fine"

Ryan's eyes were closed and if possible the fair skinned Irish man was paler that before. He barley nodded in response to Javi's voice and weakly searched for Javi's hand.

"How bad is it Javi?"Beckett asked, the hesitation in her voice betraying her worry.

"He got shot near or in his lungs we need a paramedic now or he's not ..."

Javier trailed off.

"They're on their way" She tried her best to make her voice sound confident. It was far from it. The medics were there in just minutes and brushed Javier out of the way. In shock he stood to the side staring at the carpet which was now stained with Ryan's blood. Beckett brushed his shoulder.

"If you don't leave now Ryan's gonna be by himself in that ambulance"

Beckett would've been in the car in a sec holding Ryan's hand, but she knew that there was a certain connection only partners as close as they were shared and that it was important that Espo be with Ryan. She stood looking around the scene of attack contemplating the evening. With sudden surprise she realized Ryan and the bastard who had shot him weren't the only people with wounds in the apartment. There was the eerie body laying in the front room of the motel room. She walked back into there and looked again at the victim. It was a woman, most likely in her thirties. She was completely stripped of clothes and had a small table cloth covering from knee to chest. Blood drenched her and the surrounding carpet as if someone had poured blood over her body. The only body part missing the blood dousing was her head. Maybe it was her eyes or the fact that her pale skin contrasted so much with her pitch black knee length hair but it was the first time in a while that Beckett shuddered from the sight of a dead body. The eyes were what seemed to be only a large pupil surrounded by a small amount of white. But on closer inspection Beckett saw that the eyes were a deep dark brown. She shook her head at the way the woman had been killed. There was something about the woman though that seemed familiar. With a sudden recognition she realized she knew the victim in fact she knew the victim very well.


	2. Chapter 2

HEY! Thanks you guys for reading! Not that I am done yet. Well I hope y'all enjoyed the first part it would be great to get a review *nod nod wink wink* not that I am forcing anyone to. I hope you like the next part and enjoy the ones after! This part doesn't have a ton of action but the next one will. Till then enjoy the characters worry for each other.

Castle was leaning back in his writers chair as he tried to get over his current writers block. Beckett seemed to be the source of it but try as he might he couldn't forget her not even for one moment. Almost as if he had scheduled it he fell back into a memory he had of her. She was laughing. Oh how he loved that laugh the way it made your mouth want to twitch into a big smile. It was something Ryan had said about Jenny's pregnancy he couldn't remember what but that didn't matter all that mattered to him was her laugh. He closed his eyes as he nearly re-lived the time. Suddenly his phone rang waking him from all sense of her. He sighed with the mixed emotions of relief to be pulled away from the pain and anger at the disturbance of what was once his. He pulled the phone up and recognized Lanie's number. With slight apprehension he answered.

"Castle"

"Hey it's Lanie"

"Lanie!?" he said bluffing surprise. " What are you calling for?"

"Ryan decided it was fine to get shot" quickly before Castle could ask " he's fine, thank goodness the shooter had a bad aim and barely missed his lungs and all other vital organs. He lost a bit of blood but other than that he should be just fine." There was a slight pause in the conversation as Lanie adjusted the mood.

" So have you even tried talking to Beckett?" Castle didn't answer.

" I thought not, well you better talk soon or she's gonna get away."

" But I hurt her, bad, not only that if I set foot in the precinct Espo and Ran will blow my brains out"

" Now Castle you know that's not true, and Kate is more forgiving then you think especially towards the man she loves, now I don't want anymore talk you better be down here soon or Espo and Ryan aren't going to be the only ones with a gun pointed toward you"

With that Lanie hung up leaving a very hard pressed Castle on the other end.

Esposito's eye brows raised several inches up his face when he saw Castle walking towards him. Javier didn't say a word just gave Castle a long icy glare. Lanie came up and saw what was happening. Immediately she hugged Javier's arm distracting him from silently trying to kill Castle. Javier looked at Lanie the glare changed to one of love and tenderness in an instant.

" Hey chika" he said softly " Where have you been?" Lanie smiled but then got a little serious

" I called Castle".

Javier frowned " What for?"

Lanie gave him a slightly reproachful look

" Some day him and Kate are gonna have to make up, and you know they are better when they're together"

Still frowning Javier looked at Castle then back at Lanie.

" What about what he did? It takes time to get over something like that" his voice had raised a little.

" I know but if we don't get over it eventually we are gonna end up sounding like a bunch of four year olds"

Javier knew that Lanie was speaking logic but he couldn't help but think back to that day at the precinct. The day had started like usual, Ryan got him coffee, Kate came in with Castle and they all started to crack down on that paper work that was never ending. Beckett's phone rang. After she finished the call she sounded out the familiar words " We got a body". They all headed down to ninth avenue and entered a grungy apartment where Lanie was standing over the body of a young man. After they got all they could everyone headed back to the precinct. They got there and started to do research on the dead guy. After a half an hour a teenager that was about 17 walked in and head towards the middle of the room. In an instant he whipped out a gun and started firing randomly. Castle like the idiot he was had tackled the boy. After arresting the kid Kate had gone over to Castle and was yelling at him. He of course claimed he had done it to save lives. Everyone who knew Castle knew it was a half lie. Castle did things sometimes because it was exciting and fun but this was crossing the line. Kate started crying and saying how she couldn't take it if he got hurt. Castle still not understanding why she was upset tried to comfort her by joking about how if shot he could practice his hospital bedside manners. This only got Kate more upset and she told him to leave. Maybe if Castle had understood why Beckett was upset it wouldn't have been such a big thing but when Castle got something in his head it stuck. It had been four months since then and Beckett wouldn't even talk to Castle because try as he might he couldn't understand.

Javier shook his head as he looked back in the unpleasant events that had lead up to the painful brake up. But he pulled himself back into reality when a nurse came up and told him that he could see his partner. Anxiety welled up inside him as he thought about Kevin when he had been bleeding on the floor. It should have been him there he was the guy who took the shot for the best friend not Kevin, never Kevin. Lanie looked up at him and squeezed his hand then she let go letting him enter the hospital room by himself. There was Kevin laying there his eyes closed and his breath soft sounding. Javier went up to the bed and gently held Kevin's hand. He realized how relieved he was to see his partner and brother alive. Kevin's eyes flickered open as soon as Javier touched his hand. A look passed between them that spoke so much more than could be said. They both sat there for several moments ingraining the memory into their minds. This would be a day neither of them would forget. The moment was interrupted by Jenny entering with Tommy on her hip. Her forehead was lined with worry and her eyes asked so many questions of worry. Javier gave up Kevin to the frantic wife and to insure that they also enjoyed their moment took Tommy without a word. Jenny looked into his eyes her own emanating her gratitude " Thank you for making sure he didn't die". After those words Javier left. Outside in the hall Lanie saw the baby and immediately claimed it taking the brown haired blue eyed boy from her boyfriend.

As soon as Beckett saw Castle she knew Lanie had called him. She was about to start walking away when the others saw her. With reluctance she joined the group. Lanie gave her that look telling her that Lanie was about to abandon ship and leave her with Castle. And just like that Lanie said

" You know Javi I think I need a little air how about we take little Thomas outside"

Javier readily agreed and they soon disappeared around the corner. The two of them both stood there awkwardly staring everywhere but at each other finally their eyes met. Castle spoke first.

" Kate... I am so so sorry, I love you more than anything, I want to make it up to you any way I can just give me another chance please just one more chance."

Kate looked at him her face unchanging and unreadable. Finally she answered.


	3. Chapter 3

So I hope everyone wasn't disturbed by the cliff hanger. But any good story had at least one good cliff hanger or at least a cliff hanger in general whether or not it's good. Hope you enjoy the next part!

Kevin woke up feeling warm and very groggy. He knew that only two things did that to him no sleep or drugs. As he thought about his surroundings he concluded that he was definitely not in his house and most definitely not on the precincts stiff unforgiving couch. Suddenly he remembered the motel and with even more painful clarity the room and the guy holding the gun. He replayed what had happened trying to make sense of it.

All of them had seen the eyes and immediately he decided that never in all his life would he have been a M.E. Beckett yelled out "Sweep the place" and he did just that. He headed towards the room while Javier went towards the bathroom. Kevin opened the door and was met face to face by a man holding a gun. The guys face was terrified and as soon as he saw Kevin he pulled the trigger. Kevin knew that this was most likely the killer and was about to yell NYPD put the gun on the ground but was shot before he could say it. In reaction Kevin shot aiming towards the shoulder knowing that a wound would slow the killer down. Promptly he fell as a pain exploded from his chest. He lay there and tried to clear his head as he became dizzy. The only thoughts circling through his head were ones of Jenny and Thomas. He then saw out of the corner of his eye Beckett burst into the room and cuff the killer. Javier was only seconds behind and was next to Kevin in an instant. He whispered comforting words Kevin couldn't discern. Kevin closed his eyes trying to ignore the pain trying to forget the thought of death.

Kevin breathed in deeply as he went over this memory. He regretted this action as soon as he did it. He then heard a soft click as the door opened. Kevin still tired kept his eyes closed. He felt a hand grab his. It was bigger and rougher. Kevin opened his eyes and looked into Javier's. He felt a surge of relief that meant that everyone else was fine. He felt safer with his partner here knowing that they would always have each others backs. Kevin made sure that this moment was put into memory because it was moments like these where you could feel the care and connection shared only by partners who faced death together. They both stayed there just looking into each others eyes holding that moment. Then again Kevin heard the soft click of the door and saw his beautiful Jenny come into the room with little Tommy on her hip. Javier grabbed Tommy and left the two together. Jenny's face was lined with worry as she rushed up to Kevin.

"Oh Kevin I was so scared when Javier called me I thought..." her voice left her as she cried.

Kevin's insides twisted as he felt a horrible sense of guilt at putting Jenny through this.

"Jenny" his voice was hoarse "I'm sorry"

Jenny looked up with confusion on her face"Oh Kevin don't be sorry be anything but that, I didn't mean to make you feel bad it's just I love you so much I don't know what would happen if you died" She held his hand and they both looked at each other. " I love you Jenny"

"I know" Jenny leaned down and kissed him.

Lanie wasn't much of a kid person but Tommy was one of the sweetest things she had ever seen. Javier looked over her shoulder as she baby talked with Tommy.

"What are you doing practicing pig latin?"

"No" she said "Haven't you ever baby sat?"

"No why would I, I was the youngest in my family"

"Really?" Lanie's voice dripped with disbelief. She shook her head sometimes Javier could really surprise her.

Kate stood there her face unchanging. She opened her mouth to speak when her phone rang. Kate ignored it and then looked into castles eyes

"You never had to say sorry"

"Why?" His face crinkled into confusion.

"I was worried then just as I am now and I don't want you dead I want you alive and with me"

"Why didn't you say that instead of leaving me there for four months"

Kate stood there silent. It was her turn to apologize.

"I thought that maybe we needed to cool off we needed-" she fell short the sentence not being able to come.

"We needed-?" he said urging her on.

"I need you to be safe, when I've already lost my mom and Montgomery and today I almost lost Ryan" she pause as she swallowed back a lump forming in her throat " I want you to be the one person I know that I am not going to lose" With that she stopped and looked towards the ground. Castle leaned forward and hugged her. No more words were needed. Kate's phone rang again interrupting the couples reconciling moment. Kate picked it up and answered

"Beckett" a pause "alright I will meet you there sir"

Castle looked at her a question on his face. " The case, Gates needs me and Esposito on it" Castle merely nodded. Then without word Castle leaned down and kissed Kate. Again their moment was interrupted by a loud cough. They turned with surprise to see Javier and Lanie standing with Tommy in their arms. Lanie elbowed Javier in the ribs for interrupting.

"Hey! What was that for chika?!"

Lanie gave him a despairing look and shook her head. Kate bit her lip as the she cleared her head of the confusion caused by Castles involuntary kiss. In seconds she had composed herself.

"Esposito how's Ryan?" Her team was always first.

"Good as can be expected, Jenny on the other hand.." he trailed off leaving an obvious clue there.

" Alright we need to start on the case we already know who the victim is so we have a good start"

Javier interrupted " We do?"

"Yea she is Allie Kimberlin we were best friends through high school"

"Got any idea why she would end up dead?" Castle chimed in.

" Well we better ask our suspect/cop hater" Kate responded her work face replacing the relaxed one.

They began walking away when Javier turned around and went back to Lanie giving her a long kiss, too long in Tommy's opinion for he began crying. Javier backed up and gave the baby a jealous look. Lanie smiled

"Already got competition eh Esposito" Castle grinned mischievously. Javier rolled his eyes and began heading out again. When reunited all three of them began walking towards the doors. Kate however stopped

"Where do you think your going Castle?"

He paused "To help on the case?"

"Remember I want you safe, besides Lanie's going to need some help with that baby"

Castle gave her a horrified look "Wha- what?!" he spluttered out

Javier turned around a huge smug grin planted on his face "You heard her Castle, Baby duty"

The two detectives then left leaving a pouting mystery writer behind.


	4. Chapter 4

OK I lied maybe the last one didn't have very much action (In any way at all) but this one should I think... anywho thanks to all my readers and all around to any one who took the time to read this! I also encourage people to write something about Castle(Especially Ryan) because I love reading others stories! Alright down to chapter four where the mystery ensues ... sort of...

"What do you mean, He's not our killer? He frickin' shot one of the detectives, my detective, if he wasn't the guilty party then why did he shoot Kevin!" Beckett was obviously freaking out. She had thought that the only slightly difficult part of this murder investigation would be all the paper work that came with an injured cop. Perlmutter looked at her annoyance and extreme boredom written on his face

"Really Detective, if you can't believe the word of a trained veteran ME that you might as well cut the body open yourself, I've already told you once, the man in the apartment only shot his weapon once and that result of it was your injured detective, Ryan, now if you'll excuse me I have better things to do then argue over a perfectly clear fact with an emotionally challenged detective" With that Perlmutter turned around leaving a solemn Esposito and very upset Beckett. Beckett walked back a step in clear frustration and ran a hand through her hair

"Beckett, come on you need some rest it's been a long night we can visit Kevin and then get some sleep we'll do better if we're rested"

Javier was speaking logic and Beckett knew it but that was the last thing she wanted.

"I'm going to interrogate the sus-" she stopped short as she corrected herself " the material witness"

Javier sighed. Beckett pretended that she hadn't heard and they both went back up into the 12th and began their interrogation.

Kate walked into the room with a cool, calm, and composed looked. She had smoothed her pants and shirt and brushed her hair. It was best to look in control of the situation when confronting any kind of witness. She put down the papers she was holding in the manilla folder on the table and then sat herself down.

"So" she paused as she flicked the folder open so only she could see it.

"Edgar Pullman is it?" she stared up her glare icy and piercing. The man was in his mid-twenties with long straggly brown hair and a chin and face in much need of a shave. His clothes weren't much better. He nodded his eyes wide and his leg and foot tapping up and down nervously.

Kate leaned in closer looking him straight in the eyes "I am going to make this clear right from the beginning, if you lie to me I will make you pay, if you jerk me around I will make your sentence last until the jail has rotted and" she paused again " if you don't tell me everything I need to know I will make your life a living hell" his leg stopped moving as soon as she started talking every part of him froze and his eyes grew wider. He didn't respond but Beckett didn't need that she could already see that this was going to be easy.

" Edgar" her voice said his name smoothly without raising or spitting the word but the emotion behind it was beyond any anger.

" Why were you in that motel?"

"I" his voice wavered " I went in there to meet a girl"

" They dead one, Allie Kimberlin"

" Who?" he looked genuinely confused and looked at Beckett with pleading eyes. When she continued looking at him with disbelief he began to crack.

"Please really I didn't know her real name I just knew her as the person you went to for help with- , well she was called The Thaumaturge"

" What kind of help did you go to her for?"

He hesitated a moment but immediately began talking when Beckett made a move to get up " Any kind, money, making someone disappear, pulling off computer things, anything you could think of either she would get you the connections or she would do it herself, I had a friend who told me about her he said that she always did business in certain places at certain times of the month, the Bentley motel was one of them"

" What were you going to her for?"

" Well, I," he spluttered. Beckett raised her eyebrows in an expectant way " I wanted help to disappear"

"Why?"

" I got in bad with some loan shark, I didn't have the money and I didn't want to do more time so when I was at the apartment I thought that the people had been one step ahead of me and had killed her so I would go to prison and get killed in there I didn't know what to do as soon as that detective stepped in I shot thinking he was going to kill me" he paused shame faced and then looked up at Beckett

" He's alright right I mean I didn't do any permanent damage right he's alive?"

Beckett ignored him " Tell me exactly what you saw when you got into that motel room"

"I walked in looked around and when I saw the body I freaked and did exactly what I just said, but that detective I didn't kill him right he's fine right I mean you might lower the charges right?"

Beckett's face filled with disgust. It was sleaze bags like this that made it so good cops never went home made it so good people got hurt.

" The only charge being dropped is the murder one other than that you are being put away for attempted manslaughter, obstruction of justice, and any other wonderful charge our attorney's can come up with" with that she turned her back on the pleading mans figure. Javier met her outside a look of self fulfillment as the idea of Kevin's attacker being put away of life came into his head.

" You did great Beckett" he said

" Were not done yet" was all she said in response.


	5. Chapter 5

I am so psyched to be reaching my fifth chapter in my first story! I hope everyone who is reading it is loving or at least enjoying it to some extent! I don't know why but I feel obligated to say a little something before I start a chapter whether it is because of you guys or if I just like writing I don't know! Up next ladies and gentlefictioners is the fifth installment of The Murderess etc. name is too long to type so on and so forth.

It had been a long time since Castle had changed a diaper but truth be told the horror of those events still gave him nightmares to this very day. So when Lanie handed Tommy to him with a diaper and wet wipes he nearly fainted.

"Castle I know you basically raised Alexis by yourself so I am sure you remember how to change a baby's diaper right?" her tone and demeanor implied that whether or not he pleaded a bad memory he was going to have to do the deed. Castle sighed, he hated it when woman asked rhetorical questions.

He answered with a despairing nod.

"Good, because I need to check on Jenny we need to make sure she gets home because if she pulls an all nighter here at the hospital someone is going to end up with the baby"

Castle paled. Lanie smiled at him in an innocent way. That woman was of the devil. After the sound of her heels had died away Castle looked down at the baby boy in his arms. Gosh he was cute especially since he had inherited his father's beautiful icy blue eyes. It almost made Castle wonder if another kid wasn't such a bad idea. This notion soon vanished as he set himself to the grueling task of diaper changing.

((((())))(())()())()())*)(_())(*#$%^&*()_

"Yo Beckett I just got done questioning the family of the vic. They haven't seen Allie for five years it seems she got into some shady business that her parents didn't agree with when she didn't stop they cut ties. I have also been doing some background work and it seems that Allie worked at a place called K Chain. Some radio station they said that she hardly ever comes in and with the kind of apartment she has that kind of paycheck definitely can't cover it. Our vic was into some nasty stuff. I went over all the papers in her apartment she knew a lot of the wrong kind of people it seems that our material witnesses statement is aligning with what Allie was doing. I mean these papers are loaded a lot of people are going to jail if any of the branches of the NYPD get them."

Beckett wore a pained look. She had known Allie she had been a nice smart and athletic girl. She had been one of Kate's best friends.

"Alright, is there anything that would suggest that she was worried about her safety?"

"Yeah she is constantly writing about this person called the Child, she talks about them knowing her every move and other weird stuff. Who ever this child person is, it seems that they were stalking her"

"Alright try to figure out who this Child is and see if you can bring them in" she paused a moment reflecting the case. "Actually I will go with you, I think I know where we can get some info on this Child person" Javier gave her a puzzled look as he saw a knowing smile slip onto Kate's face.

*****&***&***&&%$# ###### C wwwwww

Javier was usually a pretty determined cop who didn't get flight or scared easy but the place Beckett had taken him to was flashing red flags in his mind. Not only was it in the worst part of town it was also out of the way and to make things better the security at the door took their cellphones, guns, and badges. As the guard had said in his buff stupid voice

"Only way your gonna make it past this door is with a permit or without all ya gear"

Javier again felt the nagging at the back of his head where he stored something that he was wanting to remind Kate she had, common sense. Big thugs, a slightly rave like party filled with some unpleasantly familiar faces. That guy at the back, hadn't Javier tackled him to the ground in an arrest. He gulped he forgot how much of a height and body stature difference there was between him and that guy. And that one he didn't even want to get started on that one. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, please tell me Beckett knows what she's doing or we are going to be the next addition to the extensive collection of the river's guests. Beckett walked through the room with a confident stride. Javier tried to implement her coolness with the same dexterity but failed miserably, the threat of death can some times do that to a person. Kate walked right up to a small man who wore an impish smile and sleek suit.

"Hello Kathy, what could the little detective want from me now?" Javier glanced at Beckett with worried eyes he didn't like the looks let alone attitude of their new acquaintance.

"Ronny don't be coy I'm here for what I always come for, so don't go forgetting that favor I did you"

"Aww honey how could I ever forget that" the sarcasm dripping from his voice made Javier's jaw tighten.

"We all need a memory jogger sometimes"

"Better send your little puppy here outside or we are going to have quite a mess" Javier glared daggers at him and made a small threatening step forward. Kate's hand came up to stop him. She looked at him. He understood and with great reluctance and went to sit at the bar instead.

"That's much better little Kathy, I was starting to worry about my safety for a moment"

"Alright then Ronny am I going to get it or shall I bring up unwanted pleasantries?"

"Don't worry little Kathy I have a remarkable memory shoot at me any way you please"

"What do you know about the Thaumaturge and the Child"

Ronny's eyes flickered to her mistrust and anger replacing his amused look from before.

"What are you playing at Kathy?"

"I wouldn't be here if I was playing with you"

"Well if that is the only decent answer you can give me you will have to forgive me for my horrible problem with memory I can't seem to think of what you're talking about not here at least"

Kate understood the underlying message.

"You know I would love some space right now how about your room?"

"Now that is just what I was thinking"

With that they stood and walked through the room and up the stairs. Javier made an attempt to follow but was stopped by the looming figures of the two earlier mentioned acquaintances. He gave a grim smile.

"How about we take this outside?" He said this in as friendly a voice as possible. Seconds later the six foot giant swung and Javier swore.

%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$%$$%$%$%%

Kate slid into the drivers seat trying to conceal a smile of sympathy and amusement. Javier in a much less amiable mood flopped himself into the car bearing a torn jacket and shirt and a lovely black eye and bloody nose. Kate couldn't help a small snicker. He glowered at her. She stopped for the sake of Javier's pride. After several minutes Javier simmered down enough to ask the question that had been sitting in his mind ever since Kate had emerged from upstairs into a complete and total brawl involving at least fifteen men.

"So what did you learn?"

"It seems that the person who calls himself the Child is really Nicholas Baker he does work much like Allie was doing but had pulled out of it for a while he came back but was usurped by Allie."

"That gives us motive and we have Pullmans statement, that is enough for us to pull him in for questioning"

To Be Cont.


End file.
